Cybersecurity pros will get paid more in 2018 than ever before, headhunting firms say

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With cyberattacks becoming more commonplace, the need for top security professionals has prompted a notable rise in salaries.

Research from recruitment firm Robert Walters predicts that cybersecurity salaries will rise 7 percent in 2018. The broader information technology sector is also expected to experience a 2 percent salary increase overall.

Josh Fisher, a senior vice president for D.C.-based professional staffing firm HireStrategy, told CyberScoop, that “conservative forecasts for cybersecurity salary increases in 2018, would be in the 10 to 15 percent range based on supply and demand in that space.”

Cybersecurity professionals have been asking for higher wages, and with the need to hire top talent, companies typically accommodate their requests, experts say.

A recent study from (ISC)2 showed that by 2022 there will be a shortage of 1.8 million professionals to work in IT.

Last year, a Stanford University research program found that cybersecurity job postings on popular hiring websites have increased by roughly 74 percent over the past five years. Tim Helming, a director of product management at DNS research company DomainTools, said he believes that these salary increases over the next 12 months will likely attract new candidates to enter the field.

Ahsan Iqbal, an associate director at Robert Walters, said that employers are also increasingly looking for professionals with “soft skills” related to cybersecurity, such as project management and communication skills. Iqbal told Computer Weekly that to attract top talent, though, it is important to highlight office perks, not just the salary.

According to Oltsik, today’s talent shortage cannot be simply mended with greater compensation. It will also require the development of new training programs for junior employees and for universities to directly partner with cybersecurity organizations.